HH02 - A Reclusive Heart (16 page)

"All set," Bret announced.

Jamie cracked one eye open. "Are you sure?"

"Yup."

With that, Jamie was off the table and righting her clothes even as she walked stiff legged to front of the store to pay the

man.

"Don't you want to look at it?" Nick asked, frowning when the stubborn woman shook her head and kept moving.

With a sigh he followed after her, making a mental note to pick up chocolate on the way to the hotel since there was no

doubt that she was going to need it.

*******

baby blue tee shirt and another pair of those damn flannel pants that he shouldn't find sexy, but did.

"I can't get the bandage off. It's been more than two hours and I'm supposed to wash it now with a little bit of antibacterial

soap," she said, holding up the small bottle of liquid hand soap, "and gently wipe it, but I can't reach the top corners of the

bandage."

Pinching the bridge of his nose as he wondered when this horrible day would end, he stepped to the side and allowed her

to come in. The sooner he got this over with the sooner she'd leave and he could return to staring at the television as he tried

not to think of all the bullshit that waited for him tomorrow.

"Where do you want to do this?" she asked, looking around the small hotel room.

"Get on the bed, Jamie," he said, gesturing lazily towards the double bed.

"O-okay," she said nervously as she put the soap and tube of ointment she'd been carrying onto the edge of the bed and

carefully laid across the bed on her stomach.

When she didn't move her shirt and pants out of the way so that he could get to the tattoo he resigned himself to the task.

He paused by the bed and pulled his shirt off over his head before it got ruined by the ointment.

"I have to move your clothes out of the way," he explained even as he reached for her tee-shirt. Thankfully she had enough

sense not to argue and even raised up a bit to help him with the task. He pushed it up until it reached her underarms and then

reached for her flannel pajama pants, careful not to touch the bandage and hurt her.

When his fingers brushed against her surprisingly firm ass he had to take a deep breath to get his breathing under control.

He was supposed to be doing her a favor, not ogling her ass, he reminded himself as he pulled her pants and panties down,

revealing move of her ass.

"
Mercy
," he hissed softly at the sight.

"What?" Jamie asked, moving to turn over, but he stopped her by placing a hand on her back to keep her right where she

was.

"Nothing. I'm going to take the bandage off now. Try not to move," he said, reaching for the corner of the large white gauze

pad as he prepared himself for the splash of cold water that he tattoo would douse his lust for her.

Five minutes later the bandage was removed and his damn cock was straining in his pants to get to her. Of course it would

turn him on if it was on his little recluse, he thought dryly as he gently cleaned the black tattoo that he couldn't help imagine

tracing with his tongue. As soon as it was clean he applied the ointment that would protect it and washed his hands.

By the time he stepped out of his bathroom he expected to find Jamie dressed and scrambling for the door, but instead he

found her right where he left her. Wondering what was wrong since his little recluse by all rights should have yanked her

clothes back into place the second he announced that he was done, he walked over to her and couldn't help but smile when her

cute little snores reached his ears.

He considered waking her up and sending her to her room, but then decided against that. The poor thing was exhausted

and probably wouldn't have the energy to walk back to her room. At least that's what he told himself as he gripped the bottom

of her pant legs and carefully pulled them off her. Then he readjusted her pretty light green panties to cover her bottom and

frowned down at her shirt.

With the ointment on her back her shirt would stick to her new tattoo and he wasn't sure if that would damage the tattoo.

Plus the guy told her to leave it exposed to air whenever she could. Not knowing what else to do, he reached down and worked

her shirt off, careful not to wake her or roll her onto her back. When that was done he turned up the heat, dropped his pants and

joined her on the bed, preparing himself for a long night of torture as the object of his desire lay less than six inches away

practically naked.

As he started to doze off with a rather painful erection he couldn't help but wonder if this was hell.

Chapter 15

As she slowly woke up she couldn't help but wonder why she was naked. Then Bret's instructions from the night before

ran through her head and she remembered that she planned on sleeping in the buff for the first time in her life to save her tattoo

from being ruined. It had also been on her list, well the mental portion of her list, to try out and she had to admit that it wasn't

all that bad. She could totally see why people slept like this.

Of course when she moved to turn over all rational thought left her brain as her eyes landed on Nick, no, correction, a half

naked Nick. She felt her eyes widen in appreciation at the sight that he made. When her eyes landed on his normally styled and

neat blond hair she couldn't help but smile. The mused look looked really good on him. It gave him that sexy bad boy look with

a touch of sweetness that she found endearing.

She ran her eyes over his handsome face, down his neck, over his well defined biceps, chest and abs only to land on his

gray boxer briefs and stayed there. As much as she'd love to look away at the moment she couldn't. This was her first up close

look of that area. Granted it was covered by his underwear, but that wasn't stopping her from getting an eyeful at the moment.

Wow......

Were all men that big? she wondered as she watched in utter fascination as the large thing in his underwear started to get

bigger until it strained against the material and the large pink tip pushed itself out from beneath the waistband of his boxer

briefs. For a moment she laid there, helpless to move or even breathe.

Actually, now that she saw one, well part of one up close and personal, she was a little frightened. There was no way

something like that was going to fit inside of her. It was physically impossible and it helped her realize that she really wasn't

ready for sex. Correction, she was pretty sure she was ready for all the other stuff, just not the actual sex part. She didn't want

to do that yet. Not until she was comfortable about being intimate with a man and if she had to look forward to being split in

two by a monster like that the first time it would be a long time before she had sex.

It would probably be better if she learned how to please a man before she actually had sex just in case she was bad at it.

She should probably find a man that she trusted to introduce her into sex, but the problem was that she didn't know any man that

would be interested in that job. The only man she trusted enough to do that with unfortunately was the same man that didn't see

her as anything more than a job.

Sure they were friends right now, but she seriously doubted he'd bother acknowledging her when this tour was over. She

was far from being his type and as much as she'd love to say that she wasn't interested in him she couldn't lie. She was. Even if

it was just a short affair she would love to be with him. Nick was exciting, sweet in a cranky way that she found endearing,

handsome, and probably the sexiest man she'd ever seen. It really was too bad that he'd never be interested in her because she

would love to-

She lost her train of thought when Nick's warm lips brushed against hers as he cupped her jaw with one hand. When she

gasped in surprise he took advantage and slid his tongue into her mouth. The idea of some guy's tongue in her mouth never

appealed to her before. Then again she'd never imagined Nick doing this to her, but now that he was she found that she rather

liked it.

Unable to help herself, she reached up and cupped the back of his head, sliding her fingers through his thick hair as she

tentatively slid her tongue against his. His growl excited her so she slid her tongue against his again. It wasn't until he dropped

his hand from her face and wrapped his arm around her to pull her tightly against him that she remembered that she was

currently topless.

She stilled at the alien sensation of having her breasts plastered against a man, but it didn't last long. Soon she was

pressing back against him, moaning as her hard nipples slid over his warm firm chest and through the sparse crisp hair the

covered his chest. Her enjoyment lasted until she suddenly found herself on her back with Nick lying on top of her and one

hand on her breast. As good as it felt to have him on top of her and touching her it also scared the hell out of her.

"Nick, stop," she said, hating the way her voice trembled.

Not even a second later Nick stopped and was off of her and she couldn't stop her sigh of relief which caused him to

frown.

"What's wrong?" he asked as he reached over to brush the hair out of her face.

She opened her mouth to calmly explain the situation, but instead found herself blurting out, "I don't want to be torn in

two." As soon as the words were out of her mouth she groaned out of embarrassment, covered her face with her hands and

since that wasn't enough she buried her face in the pillow all while praying that he forgot that she was there and went about his

business. But of course it didn't work out that way.

"Care to explain," he said, pressing a kiss to her shoulder.

She mumbled into her pillow.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that," he said, sounding amused.

With a sigh she turned her head slightly and repeated it. "I said I don't think I'm ready for sex." With that announcement she

buried her face back against the pillow and prayed for a quick death.

"I know," he said, pressing another kiss to her shoulder.

She moved her hands away from her face and turned to lie on her side, facing him, careful to cover her breasts with her

arms. "You do?"

"Yes," he said, moving closer to her as he laid his hand on her hip and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. "I'm well aware of

that fact, Jamie."

"Oh," she said, frowning.

"But that doesn't mean that I don't want you," he explained, making her blush and fight back a rather pleased smile. That is

until he added, "You're the type of woman who needs to be in a solid relationship with a man before you give up that kind of

trust and I'll never be him," he said gently.

"I know," she reluctantly admitted on a sigh. As much as she wanted to try sex, and she did as long as she wasn't split in

two, she also had to admit that she just couldn't sleep with anyone. She wished that she could, but she had too many trust issues

to be able to do something like that. She wondered if Nick realized that since the beginning of this agreement.

"What I can give you," Nick said, pressing another kiss to her lips, "is fun."

"Fun?" she repeated, too curious to pretend otherwise.

"Mmmmhmm," he said, leaning in to press a kiss to her lips again almost as if he couldn't help himself, which pleased her

greatly. She liked the idea of a man like Nick wanting her, even if it meant nothing. "We can enjoy each other during this tour,"

he said, cupping her chin between his fingers and gently giving her a nudge to look into his eyes, "but you need to understand

that this isn't going to lead anywhere, Jamie. I can't be the kind of guy that you need. All I can offer you is a little no strings

attached fun and I'm not sure that would be enough for you."

Jamie thought about what he was saying as she absently snuggled closer to him, needing his warmth. When he pulled her

the rest of the way she laid her hand against his warm chest. "So what you're saying is that you're not looking for any sort of

commitment and that I shouldn't expect one from you, because you don't want a relationship, but you're willing to spend time

together during this tour," she said, summing it up.

He nodded slowly. "I can't promise that this will even last to the end of the tour, Jamie. I don't do relationships and even

that might be more than I can handle. If we do this I need to know that you understand everything going into this or we can't do

this, Jamie. We work together and I don't want any drama at work. Do you understand?"

"Meaning I shouldn't expect anything or get upset if you lose interest tomorrow," she said, shoving away her

disappointment. She was on this tour to experience things and if she only had one day with Nick then she would simply treasure

the experience and move on. She knew he wasn't the type of guy to settle down and she wasn't going to expect it.

Nick sighed heavily as he leaned in and pressed a kiss against her forehead. "I'm sorry, Jamie, but that's all I can give

you."

"Okay," she said, deciding that she wasn't going to worry about tomorrow, but enjoy him now. "Just understand that sex is

not an option," she said, knowing that without sex he would lose interest a lot quicker.